


Corner Man

by FerretShark



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Fighting, Gen, Midtown High, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter has no self preservation instincts, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is in Pete Parkers Corner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 09:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22493902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FerretShark/pseuds/FerretShark
Summary: “Well this is a change of scenery.” Tony stops across from the school secretary’s office, soaking in the blue green walls. “So your Aunt called, she says you’ve gotta be picked up? She’s still at work..” he trails off. “Kid? What happened to your…”Peter is slouched in a chair, holding a disposable ice pack and sporting a shiner.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 20
Kudos: 550
Collections: Peter Parker Stories, ellie marvel fics - read





	Corner Man

**Author's Note:**

  * For [coconutknightshade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coconutknightshade/gifts).



> Happy Birthday coconutknightshade!!!!!

“Well this is a change of scenery.” Tony stops across from the school secretary’s office, soaking in the blue green walls. “So your Aunt called, she says you’ve gotta be picked up? She’s still at work..” he trails off. “Kid? What happened to your…”

Peter is slouched in a chair, holding a disposable ice pack and sporting a shiner. He doesn’t answer. 

Tony tries again. “Where’s the other guy?”

“Nurse’s office.” Peter finally mumbles. He’s not actually using the pack, he’s just busy wringing it between his fingers.

“So what happened?” Tony goes for polite disinterest and is a bit shocked when the kid suddenly surges to his feet. He’d forgotten how much Peter tended to talk with his hands, he takes a prudent step back.

“Well, Ned and I were in the hall. And here comes Flash-”

Tony slips his hands in his pockets, “Oh, him again.” He’d heard about Flash before, Peter’s relentless antagonizer but also Spider-Man’s biggest fan, however _that_ worked. 

“Yeah, um, him again. But he’s not the one that hit me. Anyway, he’s got this Livestream, he’s big on social media. Well, there’s this girl, Carrie. They’re rivals, I guess. On Instagram. They were fighting and..”

“A girl did that to you?” Tony says in surprise. He pulls his hands from his pockets and he reaches out with gentle fingers to turn Peter’s face for a better look at the bruising. 

“You’re not listening.” Peter admonishes, pulling his chin away, “So they were fighting, right? And Flash said, ‘ You’re channel is watched by nobody’ and she said his posts suck and that would usually be the end of it, right? But now she’s got this boyfriend, he’s a senior, and he has a fist like a cantaloupe.” Peter holds his hands apart to illustrate.

Tony snickers. 

“So he swings and Flash ducked behind me. So I had two choices...well, wasn’t really a choice.” The kid shrugs his narrow shoulders. 

Tony considers that, watching Peter over the top of his sunglasses.“You took one for your arch enemy.” Tony surmises.

Peter huffs out a laugh, dropping back onto the chair. “He’s more of an… annoyance really.”

That was true in the greater scheme of things. Peter faces down bigger assholes with much higher stakes on a near weekly basis.

“Anyway, you took the hit.” Tony sighs “And they’re sending you home?“Aren’t there bystander laws?”

Peter’s smile is wry, “It’s high school, Mr Stark, zero tolerance policy.”

The unfairness of it nettles Tony and the offense to his sense of justice spills over.“But you were just standing there!”

Peter slumped in the chair, head bowed, as he mumbles into his sweatshirt. “Well, me being _me_ He _hit_ me.” Peter motions to his face again, taps his knuckle against his temple above the bruise.

Tony blinks as understanding hits. “He broke his..”

“Yeah, I was listening earlier. The word they used was ‘shattered.’” Peter winces. “Luckily, the nurse thinks he hit it ‘just right.’” 

Peter finishes the sentence bitterly, glaring down at the ground. Tony takes in his pitiful form and sits down next to the kid, on the little plastic and metal chair.“Oh, Pete.”

Peter was very careful with his enhanced strength. Tony has noticed and now he knows what to watch for. The kid’s high five’s were a work of art. He would always stop his hand just in time and let the other person apply all the force. It’s a testament to how careful and aware he was of the possibility of hurting other people.

“Just take me home, please, Mr. Stark.” 

The abject resignation in the kids voice stirs Tony to speak without thinking.“Got a lot of homework?”

Peter shakes his head, still looking down. “Nah.”

Tony makes a split-second decision and slips his arm around Peter’s shoulder. “Had lunch yet?”

“No.” 

“How do you feel about cheeseburgers?” Tony doesn’t wait for an answer, but instead presses on. “Do you like go-karts?” 

Tony’s been meaning to move this mentorship out of the lab and away from the superheroing. Time to make the moments count.

“Are you serious?” A little life was coming back into the kid’s tone. He doesn’t look up though, continuing to twist the ice pack between his fingers, “Cheeseburgers and Go Karts w-with you?” 

It’s a weak finish with just a little bit of hope there, threaded through the question.

Tony rubs his chest to soothe the sudden sting there. “Of course. Of course with me...and Happy too. He’s out in the car.” Tony jerks his head in the general direction of the parking lot. 

Peter grins then, like sunlight breaking through the clouds.

“After all, you saved Flash Thompson’s life today.” Tony adds.

“Yeah, I did.” The kid agrees cheekily, seemingly pleased with his new afternoon plans.

Tony wonders if he’s accidentally said too much here though. If he’s Inadvertently revealed the careful tabs he keeps on the layers of relationships that spiral outward from Peter Parker. Ned Leeds, Michelle “MJ” Jones and of course the notorious Eugene. But Peter doesn’t call him on it and he relaxes into the moment.

“Got your stuff?”

“Yeah, I got it all.” Peter jumps back up from his seat.

The eye is already looking better, the dark bruise already tinged with pale green at the edges. 

“Can you come back to school tomorrow?” Tony asks

The kid pulls his backpack on, “yeah, Principal Morita said I could.”

“We may have to do something about your face.” Tony gestures toward his own eye. The kid’s healing factor is off the charts and by tomorrow there will be nothing left.

Peter nods in understanding. “May probably has some makeup or something.” 

“Come on then, let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

‘This kid’, he thinks as they walked out the front door into the bright sunshine. For the first time in his life, Tony has poptarts in his cabinet and chicken nuggets in his freezer. He’s starting to accept that he wouldn’t trade it for anything. And currently the very best part is that today he gets to inform Happy Hogan that the man was going to be spending his afternoon in a go-kart.

**Author's Note:**

> A cornerman or corner man is a boxing term. In combat sports, it’s a coach that has to stay outside of the main area during the round but during a break, can go in and minister and coach a fighter. I thought it was a good analogy for Tony in this situation and in the super hero mentoring gig in general.
> 
> Thank you so much to Grace_d for beta and editing. You made it shine, thank you!! You always do, you’re the best <3
> 
> Thank you to Gruoch!! We had a mutually beneficial fic naming session yesterday and I could not have done it without you! I was totally stuck.


End file.
